Position Description
The Historical Society of Long Beach collects, preserves, and presents local history. Through historical collections, exhibitions, and programs we connect people to the past, and to the place they live. We present an inclusive community narrative and help create a greater understanding of our neighborhoods, the city, and its place in the larger world.
The Project Archivist is a full-time, hourly position. The candidate will join a small but mighty team of staff and volunteers with a passion for our work, Long Beach, and historical collections. The Project Archivist is the only team member tasked with caring for collections full-time. A successful candidate will communicate effectively, have strong organizational and interpersonal skills, be self-motivated, be flexible, and will think creatively to process collections using volunteers and scarce resources. We seek a candidate who will help achieve strategic goals which include acquiring collections that better represent local communities and processing those collections in findable ways. The position is not limited to one project; multiple projects need to be managed simultaneously.
The Historical Society of Long Beach’s holdings includes 110,000 photographic images, 2,861 recorded accessions with hundreds of thousands of documents, thousands of publications, and 1,982 objects. Processing of these collections vary greatly. Some are processed at item level, some at folder level, some at box level, and some are yet to be processed at all. Highlights of the collection include photographic images, municipal collections of officeholders, City Manager, and Redevelopment Agency, bound and microfilm newspapers, Long Beach LGBTQ materials, organizational records covering the arts, politics, women’s organizations, and Japanese American, Cambodian American, African American, and Latino community materials. Cataloging and organizing exhibition material.
Salary Range:
$16 to $20 per hour depending upon experience.
Application Instructions:
A cover letter illustrating your fit for the position, resume, and an example of a collection description or finding aid that you prepared should be emailed to JulieB@hslb.org by January 12, 2022.